These days, no one would blame you for being confused about the mobile-frenzy that’s going on. Understanding what the new smart phones are capable of is hard and it’s only getting more complicated.

A common misconception is that mobile shoppers are only after certain things. After all, who’s going to shop for office supplies on their mobile? Don’t count your business out; as more data is compiled we are learning that there are no set patterns for smart phone shopping habits.
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I know you’re excited. We just installed Google Analytics on your site and the dream of increased conversion rates glows brightly in your eyes.  You login and… uh-whaaaaa?  What is this jibber-jabber?  All you see is squiggly lines and a page full of numbers and links to more pages full of even more squiggly lines and numbers.

This is a common reaction to the Google Analytics Dashboard. The numbers look intimidating but with a little help, they’ll soon be your best friend.  The first step of being able to release the power of your site’s analytics is to understand the terms used.  After we get you familiar with what the terms mean, we’ll move on to understanding the way they interact with each other.  But that’s for another time.

So, put on a pot of coffee, grab your spectacles and settle in; I’m going to teach you some key definitions that will help you get the most out of Google Analytics.
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Last time we showed you how data feeds (RSS and XML) can help drive customers to your store.

This time around we’re going to be a little more traditional and show you how two different types of email can make customers notice you.

The first, newsletters, shares news about your industry and useful tips. The second, email marketing, is one of the most cost effective ways to entice customers to purchase.
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AspDotNetStorefront has a built-in Google sitemap that not many people know about.

Google allows website owners to submit sitemaps via Google Webmaster Tools. Submitting a sitemap to Google helps ensure that Google knows about all the pages on your site.

The built-in AspDotNetStorefront Google sitemap is dynamic; it changes as you add new categories, topics, and products to your site.

To get to the Google sitemap, type “googleindex.aspx” onto the end of your URL: www.YOURSITE.com/googleindex.aspx

You should see a page that looks something like this: (more…)

Web sites that aren’t using Web analytics are missing out on a wealth of customer data. This data can help them outstrip their competitors and grow into an online powerhouse.

Web Analytics isn’t anything new. In the 1990’s webmasters monitored the number of page requests, or “hits”, made to their servers.

Then websites grew to encompass multiple pages, images, subdomains, and other manner of web technologies. As websites evolved, so too did analytics. Today website tracking codes provide an almost overwhelming amount of traffic data.

Here at Vortx, we love Google Analytics. It’s free, easy to install, and the dashboard is intuitive and user friendly. Yet, we know that many of our clients, indeed many websites out there in general, do not possess any sort of analytics tracking.

So, why analytics? (more…)

So you have a website and you are getting visitors. But do they make it to your products, the real meat and potatoes, or are they simply seeing the home page and little else?

Knowing which pages your visitors are seeing, and more importantly where they are leaving from, is key to any site’s success.

This is where Google Analytics comes in. A small bit of code will give you access to a wealth of information to help you pinpoint your site’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
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